Oddly enough, whenever I’m at the dentist’s office, there always seems to be one of those home makeover shows playing on the TV in the waiting room. The sound is muted, but you can follow along in the closed captioning if you’re interested—not that the dialogue is particularly exciting. The plots seem mostly identical from episode to episode: The superstar home renovators are introduced to a drab and miserable house. They come up with a plan and get to work with heaps of enthusiasm and loads of laughter. The astonishing result is revealed to the shocked residents.

In some ways, this show provides a parallel to the tremendous transformation that comes about when we meet Jesus and He begins working in our hearts. The immediate results vary from person to person, but all of us are changed through Christ and become new creations, with the ability to live in a new way. “God has chosen to make known … the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”1

Of course, our personality, our mind, and our emotions don’t miraculously and instantly change when we find Jesus. He lives in us, but it is our responsibility to let Him be seen and heard through us. This means learning about God through prayer and reading His Word, and then striving to think, speak, and act in a Christlike manner, so that others can come to know Him too.

I hope this issue of Activated will be a blessing to you as you work to become more like the Master and let His light shine through you into a dark world.

  1. Colossians 1:27 NIV